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Home Builder, Entrepreneur, Philanthropist - Hugh Heron, Honoured at Celtic Ceilidh

February 25, 2008

Toronto's EMS provided   the Honour Guard

MHC's President Karen Kinsley and Board Chairman Dino Chiasa

BILD Past President and Hugh's partner, Bob Finnigan, with Nicky Finnigan

Committe Co-Chairs (left to right) Alan Heron (Alan Heron Homes), Dr. Alvin Curling and Peter Smith (Andrin Homes)

 

On Wednesday, February 6, nearly 900 builders, politicians and celebrities, family and friends gathered at Toronto's Fairmont Royal York Hotel to celebrate the accomplishments of Ontario home builder and philanthropist Hugh Heron.  Heron is a principal and partner in the Heron Group of Companies and President of Heathwood Homes in Toronto.  To honour his Scottish roots, the event was themed as a Celtic "Ceilidh" (pronounced K-lee) - a traditional Highlands-style gathering with music and storytelling.

The Toronto Fire Services Pipes & Drums and Toronto Emergency Medical Services Honour Guard escorted Heron and his party into the Canadiana ballroom with pomp and circumstance.  Steve Paikin, TVO's host of "The Agenda", served as emcee.  Congratulatory videos by Ontario Premier Daltom McGuinty, The Ontario Home Builder's Association (OHBA) and The Heron Group of Companies paid tribute to Heron's 40+ years of dedication and hard work in advancing the new-home-building industry in Canada and his tireless efforts to give back to the greater community.

Speakers included Karen Kinsley, President of Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC); Alan Heron, President of Alan Heron Homes and OHBA President Mark Basciano.  The Ceilidh was topped off with performances by popular tenor John McDermott and Bobby Watts, two of Canada's most-loved traditional Scottish/Canadian singers, and a special performance by "The Blues Brothers", OHBA members Rick Carvaggio and Pete Williams.

Over the years, Heron has served as President of the Greater Toronto Home Builder's Association (now BILD) and OHBA, chair of the Ontario New Home Warranty Program (now Tarion) and on the board of CMHC.  He credited the generosity of his partners with allowing him to take time out from their business to fulfill his duties in these positions.

In true Hugh Heron fashion, he recounted his immigration to Canada and subsequent  career with humour and reaffirmed his feelings about living here.  "My involvement in these organizations has strengthened my love for Canada", he said.  "I've worked with people from different nationalities, cultures and religions and when you think of the problems in other countries around the world, it's remarkable how well we get along.  It's like family on a large scale - the same feeling we have at the Heron Group".

A donation from the evening's proceeds will be made to the Mikey Network - the non-profit charitable organization founded by Heron and his partners to honour their former partner, Mike Salem, who experienced sudden cardiac arrest and died on a golf course in 2002.  The Network places public-access defibrillators called MIKEYS in high-risk locations in Ontario.

At the podium, Heron expressed his thanks and delight with the evening's success, and summed up the tribute with, "Not bad for a wee boy from Glasgow!".

 

Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) Program Launched in Halton High Schools

The MIKEY Network Funds Entire Cost

February 20, 2008

Halton Region, in partnership with the Halton Catholic District School Board and the Halton District School Board, has launched a Public Access Defibrillation (PAD) program that will equip all high schools in Halton with an Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) and have staff trained in cardiac emergency response techniques.

By the end of the current 2007-2008 school year, all of the seven catholic and 17 public high schools in Halton will have PAD programs in place.  The implementation program will put Halton at the forefront of school-based PAD programming in Ontario.

The Mikey Network, a not-for-profit registered charity that places AEDs in community venues throughout Ontario, funded the entire cost of the 24 AEDs.  Halton Region Emergency Medical Services (EMS) will deliver the training of staff at each high school, while the program receives medical direction from Dr. Joel Kirsh of the Labatt Family Heart Centre at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto.

Heathwood Homes and the Heron Group established the Mikey Network in memory of a friend and partner, Mike Salem, who died of cardiac arrest while golfing in Muskoka in the summer of 2002. In his name, AEDs are placed in as many public facilities as possible, so that the other cardiac arrest victims may have a second chance at life.

To date, the Mikey Network has raised $1 million and has committed 300 MIKEYS across the GTA.

The Mikey Network Scores With Minor Hockey

January 23 , 2008

On Boxing Day 2006, 17-year-old Alex Corrance collapsed while playing hockey with his AAA team in Mississauga.  The apparently healthy and athletic Alex suffered from a pre-existing and unknown cardiac condition.  He was assisted by a group of onlookers including two fitness trainers, an RCMP officer and some off-duty firefighters and nurses.  Even with the use of a defibrillator, Alex never regained consciousness and died that day.

His parents decided that making it possible for other victims of Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) to have a chance for survival would be a fitting tribute to his memory.  Through the Alex Corrance Memorial Fund and the fundraising efforts of Beyond the Next Level (a local fitness company), a public-access defibrillator (PAD) called a MIKEY has been installed at Joshua's Creek Arena, where Alex played hockey.  An additional unit has also been given to the Town of Oakville.

SCA can happen to anyone at any age.  Each year in Ontario, children and teens are among the more than 6,500 people who experience this problem.  Access to a defibrillator can greatly increase a person's chance at living if it is used within the first critical moments following the incident.  The units are about the size of a laptop computer and administer an electrical charge through two soft pads attached to a person's chest.

The Mikey Network was named for Mike Salem, a valued partner in Heathwood Homes and the Heron Group who experienced SCA on a golf course in 2002 and passed away.  In 2003, The Mikey Network was born with the goals of inspiring heart-healthy living and placing MIKEY's in high risk locations.  Mike's professional accomplishments were well respected in the industry, but the most poignant legacy he leaves is his personal warmth - and a second chance at life for people who experience SCA.

MIKEY's give SCA victims a fighting chance to survive.  There is no way of knowing whether having a PAD available in 2002 would have saved Mike Salem's life.  And although having a defibrillator on the scene didn't save Alex, his parents hope that anyone who experiences this same cardiac malfunction in the future will be revived through the use of the MIKEY that was placed there in his honour.

To date, The Mikey Network has raised $1 million and has committed 300 MIKEYs across the GTA.

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